Weird and interesting facts about life in Norway that you probably did not know

You've probably heard a lot about a country in Northern Europe, Norway, with a population of just over 5 million, but it never hurts to learn something new. We've put together some interesting facts about Norway that you probably didn't know about yet.

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1. Members of royal families should normally only marry people of royal origin. However, King Harald of Norway vowed never to marry at all unless he was allowed to marry the love of his life, the daughter of a cloth merchant, Sonia Haraldsen. They later married with the help of the Norwegian government and she became Queen of Norway.

2. In the Edinburgh Zoo lives a king of penguins named Nils Olav, who was awarded the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard by the King of Norway.

3. During the oil crisis in 1973, the Norwegian king Olav traveled to the ski resort on weekends without any problems by public transport and even paid for the ticket. Back then, the Norwegian government spent a car-free weekend to help people save gas.

4. Norwegians are one of the happiest nations in the world. In 2017, Norway ranked first in the World Happiness report and second in 2018.

5. Norwegians usually leave their children to sleep outside, even if the temperature is only -5C. Parents often leave sleeping children in strollers outside cafes when they drink coffee or on balconies because they find it much better for them to sleep in the fresh air.

6. In Norway, you can get a harsher penalty for speeding than for drugs. Norway is probably the only European country where you can go to jail for speeding. 150 km / h on the road can lead to you in jail for 18 days.

7. Norway may not have been very lucky in the Summer Olympics, but they are definitely rocking the Winter Games. They have the most winter Olympic medals - 329 to be exact.

8. It is forbidden to die in the small town of Longyearbyen. The city has not buried dead people for 80 years because bodies cannot decompose in permafrost. Terminally ill people leave the city to die elsewhere.

9. Since 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has been held in Oslo.

10. Norway is one of the world's largest coffee consumers. Norwegians consume 9.9 kg of coffee per person annually.

11. In 1971, Norway abolished life imprisonment. Now the longest prison term is 21 years.

12. In Norwegian supermarkets only beer and cider are sold. To get any other alcoholic beverage, you must visit the Vinmonopolet specialty store. While there are a few of these shops in the larger cities of Norway, you can only find them in smaller towns, and in the countryside there are none.

13. Voss's famous bottled water comes from the municipal plumbing in Iceland.

14. Norway's unofficial national dish is Gransiosa frozen pizza. Apparently, Norwegians are big fans of frozen pizza, consuming about 24 million pizzas a year.

15. Furniture retailer Ikea names its beds, wardrobes, and hallway furniture after places in Norway.